A Christmas Carol (miniseries)
| writer = Steven Knight | story = Charles Dickens | director = Nick Murphy | starring = | composer = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_episodes = 3 | executive_producer = | producer = Julian Stevens | editor = | cinematography = Si Bell | runtime = | company = | distributor = |first_aired = |last_aired = | network = | website = }} 'A Christmas Carol' is a British fantasy miniseries based on the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens. It aired on FX in the United States on 19 December 2019 and it began airing on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2019, and concluded two days later on 24 December 2019. The three-part series is written by Steven Knight with actor Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott among the executive producers. Filming locations include Rainham Hall in East London and Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. Cast members include Guy Pearce, Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Charlotte Riley, Jason Flemyng, Vinette Robinson and Joe Alwyn. Premise Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold and bitter man, despises his fellow human beings, the Christmas holiday and what it represents. On Christmas Eve night, he is visited by the ghost of his dead partner Jacob Marley, who warns him that in order for both of them to be redeemed Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. Over the course of that night, Scrooge will be confronted by visions from his past, present and future in the hope that these experiences will help him to re-connect with humanity, especially his own. In this version, Scrooge runs an investment firm, not a moneylenders. Cast *Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge *Andy Serkis as Ghost of Christmas Past *Stephen Graham as Jacob Marley *Charlotte Riley as Lottie/Ghost of Christmas Present *Joe Alwyn as Bob Cratchit *Vinette Robinson as Mary Cratchit *Jason Flemyng as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come *Kayvan Novak as Ali Baba *Lenny Rush as Tiny Tim *Johnny Harris as Franklin Scrooge Production It was announced in November 2017 that the BBC had commissioned a new telling of the Dickens tale, with Steven Knight writing the three-part series. Knight, Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott would serve as executive producers. In January 2019, it was reported that Hardy would also be starring in the series; however, the role he would be playing was not disclosed (Hardy did not appear in the final version). In May, Guy Pearce was revealed to be playing Scrooge, alongside the castings of Andy Serkis, Stephen Graham, Charlotte Riley, Joe Alwyn, Vinette Robinson and Kayvan Novak. Rutger Hauer, who was originally cast as Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, became too ill to film his scenes and was replaced by Jason Flemyng (Hauer died on 19 July 2019). Filming Filming on the series commenced by May 2019 at Rainham Hall, a 1729-built National Trust site in the London Borough of Havering. In early June filming took place at the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. Episodes |airdate=4 |altdate=4 |airdateT=Original US air date |altdateT=Original UK air date |viewers= |country=U.S |episodes= |aux4=10 |aux4T=U.K viewers (millions) |AltDate = 22 December 2019 |Viewers = 1.33 |Aux4 = |ShortSummary = |LineColor = 000000 }} |AltDate = 23 December 2019 |Viewers = N/A |Aux4 = |ShortSummary = |LineColor = 000000 }} |AltDate = 24 December 2019 |Viewers = N/A |Aux4 = |ShortSummary = |LineColor = 000000 }} }} Reception The miniseries has received a mixed reception. On Rotten Tomatoes it has 55% with 22 reviews. Pearce's performance received a great deal of praise. ''Radio Times awarded the miniseries four stars and opined that at times the script "feels more Shakespearean than Dickensian." Evening Standard compared it to Peaky Blinders and praised the performances of the actors. Reception from American outlets was less positive. The Hollywood Reporter described the miniseries as "designed to alienate the Dickens brand's traditional core audience and probably won't much engage the curiosity of more mature viewers." Salon called it a "dispiriting adaptation" and called it "short on joy and very, very, very long on purgatorial slogging." Collider gave it two stars and acknowledged that the miniseries "certainly brings something new to the tried-and-true story" but found the ending "misses out on the meaning of the story and the greater meaning of the Christmas season." Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com also gave it two stars and described viewing it as "approximately three joyless hours of watching an adaptation try to justify its edginess." The A.V. Club gave it a C- rating, remarking on the "unrelenting dourness." According to Deadline Hollywood there were 1.4M fewer viewers for the second episode on BBC One representing a 30% drop from the first. See also * [[Adaptations of A Christmas Carol|Adaptations of A Christmas Carol]] References }} External links * * Category:2010s British drama television series Category:2019 British television series debuts Category:2019 British television series endings Category:2010s British television miniseries Category:British fantasy television series Category:English-language television programs Category:Television programmes based on A Christmas Carol Category:Television series created by Steven Knight Category:Television series set in the 1830s Category:Television series set in the 1840s Category:BBC television dramas